The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Red Scare: Trump Embraces Putin to Justify His Own Dictatorial Impulses
Sun, 23 Feb 2025
Jen Psaki explains why Donald Trump's embrace of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is an attempt to justify his own behavior and why we should expect people across the country to continue to push back. Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice joins Jen to discuss the concerning implications of Trump turning his back on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Next, Jen is joined by Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich to discuss the chaos caused by Elon Musk emailing a request for federal workers to justify their work or resign while department heads urge their employees not to respond. Then, Jen breaks down NYC Mayor Eric Adams's decade-long ties to Turkey as the saga of his corruption case continues. Former Manhattan DA Cy Vance joins the show to react to the latest in the Adams case, including a federal judge's ruling to adjourn the trial rather than dismiss the case outright. Jen is also joined by attorney Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, as well as a student activist, Niro, and her mother Manija - who are pushing back against Trump's executive order targeting the trans community. Finally, Jen shares a preview of her conversation with longtime journalist Jemele Hill which drops tomorrow in a new episode of her podcast "The Blueprint with Jen Psaki". Check out our social pages below:https://twitter.com/InsideWithPsakihttps://www.instagram.com/InsideWithPsaki/https://www.tiktok.com/@insidewithpsakihttps://www.msnbc.com/jen-psakihttps://bsky.app/profile/insidewithpsaki.msnbc.com
Chapter 1: How does Trump's behavior reflect authoritarianism?
Okay, the president is calling himself a king, firing generals, empowering unelected oligarchs, and trying to silence the free press. And no, I'm not actually talking about Vladimir Putin. The good news is the American people are starting to push back loudly against wannabe dictator Donald Trump.
Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice is gonna join me for an exclusive interview to talk about all of it. But there was chaos across Washington this weekend, as Elon Musk told every federal employee to justify their jobs in an email or resign. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich joins to talk about this brazen effort to intimidate and threaten the entire federal government.
And later, I'll ask former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance about the ongoing saga surrounding New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Spoiler alert, it's not over yet. OK, so tomorrow marks three years since Russia launched their full scale invasion of Ukraine. And I remember very clearly where I was that night. I know Ali Velshi was just talking about this, too. And you may remember where you were.
I was sitting in Jake Sullivan's office in the West Wing waiting for an update on whether the war had actually begun. Just weeks earlier, remember, the national security team in the Biden administration had made this decision to declassify information, including Russian plans to attack Ukraine in order for the world to know what to expect and to kind of call them out.
Point being, we knew it was Russia planning to illegally invade Ukraine. The world did, even before it started. But that night in February, it was clear something was happening on the ground, and we were waiting for updates from the military on what they were seeing, not knowing at the time how long Ukraine could hold Kyiv, how long Zelensky and his military could hold back the Russian forces.
But they did hold Kyiv, and they have fought every single day since then. Now, three years later, that war has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians and displaced far more. Cities have been destroyed. Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and trafficked by Russian authorities. And we've all watched it play out before our eyes.
This is all important to remember, and I wanted to start here because we're all trying to digest what we saw happen this week. I mean, the current president of the United States railed against a man he called a dictator without elections, who he claimed should have never started this war. but he wasn't talking about Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
He was referring to Ukrainian President Zelensky. It didn't stop there. He also falsely claimed that Zelensky bamboozled the United States into helping him pay for the war, that he had a rock-bottom approval rating, he doesn't, and that he didn't even deserve a seat at the negotiating table to end a war in his own country.
And he said all of that while continuing to praise Putin and parrot Kremlin talking points, as he's been doing for years. Now, obviously, this embrace of Russia is not new for Trump, but it has immense implications for America's moral authority in the world. And I also think it's important to talk about what's motivating all of this praise of Vladimir Putin. There are obviously a lot of theories.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of Trump's comments on Zelensky?
It is an unbelievable part of the story. And I just want to just double tap on something you just said that people may not realize, which is that people in other capitals read what is said in this country and they digest it. And that's such an important part for people to understand. Let me ask you about something happening here domestically.
You have overseen so many large teams of government employees on the national security side, also on the domestic side. And just last night, there was this email that went out from the Doge team, from Elon Musk's team, essentially, that basically asked employees to summarize their work over the last week.
And it coincided with a tweet from Elon Musk suggesting employees who didn't respond would be terminated. Now, some of these agencies included the FBI, the Department of Defense. I mean, there were a range of agencies on here. Some agencies, employers were telling them not to respond. But I just how alarming is this? I mean, there are many ways.
There's alarming from national security perspective asking people to do this. But what is your reaction to hearing about that?
It's extraordinary. I mean, what Trump is doing using Elon Musk as his tool is literally dismantling the United States federal government. And it's not just the people, as horrific as that is, laying off talented, experienced public servants who do nothing but serve the American people at very low salaries compared to what they could get in the private sector.
But it's halting the programs and the benefits that Americans rely on across the political spectrum. It's extraordinary what is happening and is going to hurt not just the federal employees, 2 million of them, by the way, the vast majority of whom don't live in the Washington, D.C.
area, but it is going to hurt average everyday Americans who rely on everything from the opportunity to call the Veterans Administration and get
the kinds of help they need, and now they can't get their phone calls answered, to the elderly person who relies on Meals on Wheels, to the person who had, under Joe Biden, insulin cut down to no more than $35 a month and now see their insulin prices spiking. I mean, there are all kinds of ways in which the actions and the policies
In addition to the cuts of federal workers that this administration is doing is already starting to hurt Americans in the places that matter most to them. Their pocketbooks, their health, their small businesses. This is extraordinary when you just to give an example that maybe people don't understand.
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